XRP is a cryptocurrency that powers transactions on a financial settlement network called Ripple.
A common question in the cryptocurrency community is… Is there a limited supply of XRP?
Yes. The amount of XRP that can exist is limited to 100 billion XRP.
The amount of XRP that can exist is governed by the Ripple Protocol Consensus Algorithm.
XRP is used to quickly transfer secure payments from one financial institution to another.
Once an amount of XRP is used for a payment transaction, it is destroyed.
This introduces scarcity to XRP by reducing the amount of XRP in circulation over time.
The amount of XRP distributed and their movement can be tracked through the Ripple Charts website.
Can XRP Be Mined?
XRP is not a blockchain based cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.
XRP is not mined.
Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies that are mined, XRP was minted all at once by Ripple.
The founders of Ripple recently announced that they have no intention of increasing the amount of XRP in circulation (i.e. the XRP float).
It’s important to note, however, that since the amount of XRP is limited only by technology, and the current operating philosophy of Ripple Labs, if XRP was ever exhausted, whoever is in charge of Ripple Labs could, in theory, change their minds and mint additional XRP like the Federal Reserve can print dollars…
The founders of Ripple Labs hold 20% of the XRP currency and have taken steps to lock up the remaining XRP that be used by financial institutions.
Ripple Escrow Date
In May 2017, to alleviate concerns surrounding XRP supply, Ripple committed to place 55 billion XRP (88% of its XRP holdings) into a cryptographically-secured escrow.
The escrow took effect on December 7th, 2017.
The escrow will allow Ripple to use up to 1 billion XRP monthly and return whatever XRP is unused at the end of each month to the back of the escrow queue in the form of an additional month-long contract, starting the process all over.
XRP is traded on many cryptocurrency exchanges. The greatest XRP trading volume is on Korean based Bithumb.
How to Buy Ripple in the USA?
If you live in the U.S., you may want to buy Ripple/XRP using a domestic cryptocurrency exchange. The most popular cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. is Coinbase.
Unfortunately, Coinbase does not offer XRP trading.
However, if you have a Coinbase account, you can read how to save time and leverage your Coinbase account to trade XRP in the U.S..